An Japanese Restaurant
When Ino Sushi in Japantown closed down last year my heart sank. There went a great little shop that specialized in traditional nigiri, simply fish and rice with hardly any additives. It will be missed. However, moving into the space was the former owner of Koo, Kiyoshi Hayakawa. A place I loved for, you guessed it, traditional sushi. Not that the new trend of unique tasting sushi wasn’t good. It’s just sometimes, you’ll want to taste more unadulterated fish. That’s what Koo brought, and now that’s what An Japanese Restaurant brings back to Japantown. Though at a higher price of $80USD for their 12 piece nigiri set with an appetizer and salad.
We didn’t make a reservation and decided to walk in right when they opened to make sure we got seating at the counter. It’s a small place which probably seats around twelve people comfortably. During the Ino days seating was quite difficult to get if your timing wasn’t right. Throughout the meal, there were still seats available. So if you’re looking to try this place out, you should swing by soon as I’m sure things will get busy. They have only moved in for about a year and seem to be still adjusting. I’ve seen them referred to as Sushi An. Now it’s An Japanese Restaurant. The omakase pricing changed as well, though a very modest increase from $75. I speculate that’s due to the unique fish they’re able to offer. But then again, maybe it’s the rent.
Anyways, the experience was still fantastic. The chefs were very quick to keep the nigiri prepared, one bite at a time, while the waitress made sure the sake glasses were kept at an adequate level. Love their spillover cups. And what makes this dinner so great in a space like this, you get to talk to the chefs. No really, you get to talk to them. There’s only six people at the bar and you’ll get to know more about the unique cuts they serve. Trust me, I was that annoying guy asking everything from the type, to the region, and even the pronunciation in Japanese. Yeah, they didn’t mind at all and even wondered what I’ve eaten before. That’s getting to know your soon to be repeat customers.
An Japanese Restaurant
Japan Center East Mall, Upper Level
22 Peace Plaza #510
San Francisco, CA 94115
+1 415-292-4886
sushiansf.com
Verdict: A win even with a few misses and a high price point, check this place out. You’ll love the cozy atmosphere.
Can’t say anything more for wonderful sea urchin from Hokkaido. As long as it’s fresh, you’ll have a happy camper and I was very happy to reach this point in the meal.
Sorry for the title, I tried to ask again on what exactly we were having, but simply got lemon fish. It does taste lemony and the fish was very firm. Interesting indeed. If you happen to know the type of fish this was, let me know. As for the puree, it helped cleanse the palate in between bites.
By the time we got to the actual last course, the miso soup, we were nice and warm. So looking at our empty sake bottle, we took a sip of this and called it a meal. Nice finishing touch to every omakase. And yes, miso soup should be last.
There were several pieces of shrimp crammed into this little bowl. Don’t let the size fool you. There’s so much in here. For savory egg custard lovers, you may be disappointed with all that they pack in there. Other people like me, found this to be so yummy.
Closing out the meal was an order of their savory egg custard. I can’t seem to pass up ordering this stuff and I’m so glad I did. This was packed with delightful goodies like roe, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushroom, and chunks of shrimp hidden underneath.
$8.00USD
I wanted to see if they had engawa hirame, but unfortunately they were out. Still curious on their halibut, I went ahead and got the normal hirame topped with diced green onions and ginger. Curiosity satisfied. This place has a great range of fish.
Last in the omakase, but not really last, was this fatty tuna belly. It’s melt in your mouth good. Leaving you checking your pulse to make sure you’re still okay.
Now this was another one to add to my firsts, filefish with its liver on top. Notice the color of that liver, light and creamy. That’s a great sign. And the taste? Oh yeah, it’s delicate with a creamy umami’ness from the liver. I sure hope places around the city get this daring.
Soy sauce marinated tuna isn’t one of my favorites, but this piece wasn’t overly cured. It leaves more tuna to taste and less of the soy sauce.
This was no small bottle and it was the most inexpensive bottle. Be prepared to get your drink on when you order a bottle here. We ended up ordering extra to help finish off the bottle. I see what you’ve done here An Japanese Restaurant. Well played. =)
$50.00USD
Spanish mackerel. Oh how beautiful art thee and oh so amazing to eat.
Here’s a widely available fish in Japan that rarely makes its way here, halfbeak. It’s a needle like fish that delivers a delicately clean taste while being firm. The ginger gave it the right kind of heat. You may want to forgo the wasabi with this one.
It was the halfway point and we were given a baby kale salad with a lightly sweet sesame dressing. A good way to reset for the second half of the journey.
Such a clean and tasty scallop from Hokkaido. You barely have to do anything to this scallop. Just taste its richness with a small dab of soy sauce or even none for you purest.
Okay, when I said “I’ll arctic char over salmon any day” I meant “over farmed salmon”. The kind you see with the fatty bands in the meat. Here, with wild salmon, caught in Hokkaido, you hardly see any bands. Similar to arctic char the taste was still rich and oh so good. I will update my previous statements and add the caveat “…unless it’s wild salmon from Hokkaido”
Now here’s where I know the owner knows his fish. Wild yellowtail, especially those caught in the winter, exhibit this wonderful color. Yeah, the farmed yellowtail you may be used to is whiter in color and usually referred to as hamachi. Well, this was buri. Caught in the wild only during the winter months and brought to us by this wonderful place.
As you may know, I’m also a fan of golden eye red snapper, especially when it touched by a torch like this one. But unfortunately this tasted premade. How can I tell? It was chilled when I ate it. Maybe that was the intent, but for me, it didn’t work.
Onto the first piece of nigiri and first piece I’ve never tried before, rosy seabass. It looked a little seared, but I couldn’t tell from the taste. It was full of flavor for a white fish. And I have to say, I need to seek this out more. Way to have new fish to try in the states.
First up was a set of two bites, this sweet shrimp on top monkfish liver and the sashimi pairing below. You may not know, but I’m not a fan of ankimo, but that wasn’t the problem. It was the amaebi, which I’m usually a big fan of. It fell short. It might have been that it was premade which dried out the shrimp a bit. You might be able to tell from the picture. Now add in the ankimo and I was a sad ox. Fortunately things get better, lots better.
There are several two person tables behind us. But with this place is so small and intimate, you’ll want to sit at the bar. And look, you get to talk to the legendary chef Kiyoshi Hayakawa.